


Curly Straw

by Demerite



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies), Star Trek: Discovery
Genre: Discussions of Breakups, Drinking, F/F, Getting Back Together, Heart-to-Heart, Light Angst, M/M, Marriage - Mentioned, No-one is Straight in the 23rd Century, Tilly Gives Great Advice, minor character death - mentioned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-12
Updated: 2019-04-12
Packaged: 2020-01-12 00:04:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,805
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18434891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Demerite/pseuds/Demerite
Summary: Jim istryingto drown his sorrows. Tilly refuses to let him.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> If you actually look at the timeline, there's a fairly good chance Jim and Tilly were actually at Starfleet Academy at the same time for a year or more. Given that, I decided they'd be friends. So here, have a slightly tipsy Tilly giving Jim advice. And also calling him an idiot.
> 
> This is set after the end of Season 2 of Discovery, but obviously the finale might come along and change everything.

Jim's a good way towards drowning his sorrows in something that burns when it goes down when Tilly finds him. 

He's tucked away in the back corner of the dingy little bar, far enough off the beaten track that he'd  _really_ hoped no-one would be able to find him here. But Tilly seems to have some kind of homing beacon when it comes to distressed souls, because he's been there less than an hour before she enters the bar, looks around quickly, and then strides across the dim room to him, ducking around various beings, mumbling apologies as she goes.

"What's up?" She asks, dropping into the seat in front of him. She picks up the bottle and gives the dark amber liquid inside a tentative sniff.

"Nothing." Jim mutters, hoping she'll go away soon. He likes Tilly, he really does, but he just doesn't want to deal with her eternal optimism right now; sure he's going to say something hurtful and unfortunate is she keeps pushing.

"Yeah, I might have believed that _before_ I realised what you're drinking but I'm pretty sure this," Tilly waves the bottle to illustrate her point, "Is actually used to clean engine components, so you don't get to 'nothing' me." She plonks the bottle back down on the table and gives him a hard look, "Spill."

Jim takes the bottle away from her and pours himself another glass. He downs it swiftly, and it still burns, and he still wants her to leave him alone. He could get up and walk away, he knows, but he also knows Tilly well enough to know that she'll probably just follow him anyway. He wouldn't put it past her to follow him into the men's restroom if she thought he was in distress.

He _is_ in distress, but can he really tell her about it?

She's still giving him a serious look across the table, her chin propped on her laced fingers, her elbows resting on the slightly sticky tabletop.

"I'll get it out of you one way or another." She insists, and he can't help but laugh a little at that, short and mostly humourless, "So what is it?" Tilly tips her head to the side, all curious enthusiasm, "Girl trouble?"

"No." Jim is already shaking his head.

"Okay then, boy trouble?" Tilly suggests. At Jim's raised eyebrows, she shrugs, "What, I'm not gonna just _assume_ that you're straight, who does that? Wait, _are_ you straight."

"Tilly, no-one's straight." Jim says, which isn't entirely true. It's just not exactly common. He's never been straight, he's fully aware of that.

"Okay, good. I mean, not good as in 'you can't be straight', of course you can be straight if you want to, but good like, it's good we got that cleared up. So!" Tilly rambles, " _Is_ it boy trouble? I'm an _expert_ at boy trouble. Or girl trouble. Or non-binary trouble, honestly. Relationship trouble? Yeah, that." She's rambling again, but she pulls herself up short, taking a deep breath and fixing Jim with an expectant gaze.

Jim is...a little overwhelmed. Tilly can be a lot at the best of times, and he's pretty sure she's at least a little drunk right now. "Uh..." He says, not sure where to begin, or how, or if he even can. It's not like he and Bones had even decided to keep their little affair secret. Although if it wasn't really against regulations, had it really been an affair? Yet another thing to think about on his own and _not discuss with Tilly_ his brain points out. 

"Okay, sorry, that was a lot all at once." Tilly is still talking, "I need to work on that. So!" She points a finger at Jim, "First up, are you seeing someone?"

Jim drags a reluctant hand through his hair, "I was." He admits.

Tilly's eyes go wide, "'Was' as in, 'was until very recently'?" She asks, almost tentative.

Jim nods, not entirely trusting himself to speak. He feels like if he does, he'll either tell her the whole story or possibly just start crying, both of which he _does not want to do._

"How recently?" Tilly asks cautiously.

Before Jim can answer, a waiter appears. Tilly busies herself ordering...something complicated-sounding with an overtly sexual name. Jim is surprised that she can order it without blushing.

"And some water." Tilly adds, with a meaningful look in Jim's direction. The waiter follows her glance and nods, before vanishing off back towards the bar.

"Are you cutting me off?" Jim asks when he reaches for the bottle and Tilly swipes it away from him.

"Yes." She says primly, "You can have it back when you tell me what's going on."

He doesn't speak until after their drinks are delivered. Tilly's is bright blue and green, with a bright purple plastic curly straw sticking up out of it. Jim glares at his glass of water, and then downs it, because it's something to do and will put off having to talk to Tilly for another few seconds. He's come around to the idea, _maybe_ just a little, and besides, she has his alcohol, and he'd _paid_ for the entire bottle, he's not letting her keep it.

"Who were you seeing?" Tilly asks, taking a sip of her drink, then placing it on the table with a decisive click, "So I can kick his ass!"

That thought makes Jim laugh a little, just a low chuckle. The thought of Tilly doing anything of the sort to Bones is an admittedly hilarious mental image.

"I'm serious." She says, gesturing with her still mostly full glass. Jim keeps half an eye on it, just in case she spills it, "What the heck was he thinking, leaving you? Like, I'm honestly not hitting on you, but you're gorgeous, anyone would be nuts to let you go, and-"

"He didn't leave me, Tilly." Jim interrupts, "I left him."

"Wait what?" Tilly coughs around the mouthful of bright blue drink she's just taken, " _Why?"_

Jim folds his arms over his chest, the gesture defensive, and hunches his shoulders. "Because he's amazing." He says, a little sullenly, "And I'm, well, _me_."

"That's bullshit." Tilly says, loud enough that a few nearby beings look after them in confused interest for a moment, before turning back to their drinks when they see there's not fight brewing.

"No, screw you." She insists when Jim opens his mouth to object. "That's bullshit and you know it." She takes a mouthful of her drink, like she's fortifying herself for something. Possibly one of her infamous rants. "Look, did he give you any indication that he was going to leave? Did he _say_ anything? Did he _do_ something?"

"No." Jim admits. Bones hadn't had to, Jim could see how much they didn't fit together. Bones deserved someone a whole lot better than Jim. 

"Well then!" Tilly points at him with her curly straw from her drink, "Did you _want_ to end it?"

"No." Jim mutters. He hadn't wanted to, but he wasn't going to let Bones be dragged down alongside him. That wasn't fair, not to someone who was so full of light and goodness and caring.

"Then why the _fuck_ did you leave?" Tilly jabs him in the chest with the straw, and he's fiercely glad that he's wearing a dark shirt, anything lighter would probably have been irreparably stained by her drink. 

Jim glares at her, and she glares back, still brandishing the straw threateningly. It would be so easy to tell her everything. "Because he deserves someone better." Jim eventually says, his gaze dropping.

For a moment she doesn't say anything, and when he looks up, her eyes are wide and sad. Before he can speak, she's on her feet, around the table, and wrapping her arms around him in a tight hug.

"You're an idiot." She tells him, still hugging him, "A big, stupid, dumb idiot."

He wants to argue with her, but she's still squeezing him tight enough that he's starting to run out of air.

After another few moments she lets him go, moving back to her seat. She sits and takes a mouthful of her drink, straight from the glass, her ridiculous straw abandoned on the table. Jim appropriates it before she can poke him with it again. 

"You can't make that choice for him." She says softly. She reaches across the table, wraps both of her small hands around one of his, "Look," She says, "You know Airiam and I were dating, right?"

"Yeah." Jim does know, and he can't imagine what she must be feeling now.

"Well, I always thought she deserved better too." Tilly explains, "I mean, she was amazing and capable and cool and loving and I was just a cadet who talked too much and kept dropping things in engineering and I was kinda starstruck by her? And when we first started dating I was _terrified_ that she'd wake up one morning and come to her senses that she'd made a huge mistake and wouldn't want anything to do with me anymore but then," Tilly takes a deep breath, "Then I _realised_ that I don't get to make that choice for her." Tilly squeezes Jim's hand, "If she wants to leave, that's up to her, but if I want to leave because I feel like she _should_ , well doing that just kinda makes you a jerk. So, which one is it?"

Jim wants to laugh. Or cry. He's not sure. "The jerk one I guess." He mutters.

"Congratulations!" Tilly crows, "You've passed level one of being in a relationship! You get a drink!" She pours Jim a glass from the bottle she'd confiscated earlier and hands it over. 

Jim drinks, and it still burns, but that's okay. Or at least it is until Tilly says, "So, when are you going to go apologise to this man of yours?"

Jim coughs on a burning mouthful, wipes his mouth on the back of his hand, and gives Tilly a baleful look.

"What?" She asks, grinning and downing some more of her drink, "You've realised that there was no good reason to break up, the next step is to go find him, apologise, and see if he'll take you back." She shrugs, and finishes her drink, "Come on, I'll come with you."

"Why?"

"Moral support! Come _on!"_ She gets to her feet and drags him from his chair.

"You don't even know who he is." He objects, but lets her tug him towards the door.

"And I"m gonna find out." She grins at his unimpressed expression, "Come on, you _owe_ me. Especially if it works!" 


	2. Chapter 2

 Tilly follows Jim down the walkway, trying to keep the excitement out of her posture and expression. She's finally going to find out who Jim's mystery guy is! She'd known he was seeing someone, and that he was trying to keep it quiet - not because it was against regulations, but because the person he was seeing was very private - but she hadn't known until then that they'd broken up. Or rather, that Jim had ended things out of a crisis of self-worth. 

She had, however, known that something was up with him when she'd commed him earlier in the day to see if he wanted to meet up. They don't get to see each other a lot now that she's on _Discovery_ and he's still at the Academy for another year, and she had been excited to catch up with her old friend while she was back on Earth. But Jim had been subdued and dismissive when she spoke to him, saying he was busy and didn't have time to meet up. 

Tilly had been instantly suspicious. It's not like Jim to brush her off without reason, and academic workload had never bothered him before. Usually if he can't hang out with her he's apologetic about it, even now that he's in his final year they usually manage to see each other at least once when she's down on shore leave. But she'd known she's rapidly running out of leave days and she'd _really_ hoped to see him before she left again. 

But if he didn't want to see her, that was his choice, and she told herself she wouldn't be upset about it. Still, she might as well enjoy herself since she was free for the evening, so she'd changed out of her uniform and headed towards one of the local bars she knew wouldn't be full of cadets and officers. 

She hadn't intended to run into him, but apparently they have the same taste in dingy bars. 

And now she's following him through the cool night air, back in the direction of the Academy campus. 

"Where are we going?" She asks, lengthening her strides until she's alongside him again. 

"Medical Centre." Jim is all tense, anxious energy, gaze fixed forwards. 

"Medical Centre?" Tilly asks, confused, "Why? Oh!" She gets it, suddenly and blindingly, "He's a nurse!" 

"Doctor, actually." Jim gives her an amused look, and she grins back. 

"Oooh, fancy!" She considers. She used to know all of the doctors on campus, she'd had to see them often enough, but she's been on _Discovery_ for nearly two years now, there's a good chance that there are others there now. She racks her brains for who might be there at the moment, comes up with a couple of names but none of them seem right. She can't imagine Jim going for _any_ of them. "Who is he?" She asks. 

"Not telling." 

"Come _on_ I'm gonna find out anyway." She insists, nudging her shoulder against his. 

"Nope." He says, "You'll find out _if_ this works." 

"Ugh!' She groans expressively, nudging into him again, harder this time. "You suck." 

That gets her a raised eyebrow and a smirk, and she rolls her eyes, "Gross." She mutters, and he snorts a low laugh, and that's encouraging, it really is, he's making crude jokes again, that's good. 

They walk in companionable silence for a little while. Tilly doesn't push Jim for the identity again, content that she'll find out soon. Hopefully. The suspense is still killing her. She knows she probably shouldn't push, but she can't help desperately wanting to know. 

Even at this late hour, the Campus Medical Centre is still bustling. Almost as soon as Jim and Tilly step inside into the small reception and waiting area, Jim is accosted by a young nurse who all but leaps out from behind the triage desk, grabs him by the front of his shirt, and starts snapping at him, her words quiet and angry. Tilly takes a step back in shock. She hadn't expected someone so kind and gentle looking to have such a filthy vocabulary. 

"Hey," Jim catches the young woman by the upper arms, "Hey, hey!" He gets her attention, and she pauses, "I'm here to fix this Chapel. I promise." 

She gives him a long, calculating look. "You'd better be." She says firmly, "He's one of my best friends Jim, and you _really_ hurt him." 

"I know." Jim says, downcast, "But I'm gonna fix it. I promise." 

The nurse - Chapel - steps back. "Go on then," she says, waving Jim past her towards the door marked 'authorised personnel only', "You know where he'll be." 

"I owe you one!" Jim says, shooting her a quick, tight smile and heading towards the door. 

Tilly goes to follow him, but Chapel steps up to block his path, "I'm sorry." She says gently, "But I think they're gonna need to sort this out on their own." 

Tilly sighs, "No fair." She mutters, "I didn't even get to find out _who_ he's seeing." 

"He didn't tell you?" Chapel asks, leaning against the side of the desk. 

"No." Tilly sighs and shoves her hair out of her face, "He said I only got to find out if they get back together." She crosses her arms and pretends she isn't pouting. She's totally pouting, but that's fine. One of her oldest friends is keeping secrets from her,  but that's okay, it doesn't make her crazy mad at him or anything. 

Chapel is laughing. "They'll get back together." She says, with a surprising degree of confidence. "Even if it isn't today, it'll happen. There's no way those two can keep their eyes, or their hands, off of one another." The last part sounds a little rueful and weary. 

"You, uh, sound like you know that from personal experience." Tilly says cautiously and gets raised eyebrows and a smirk in return. 

Chapel laughs, "Ensign, uh.."

"Tilly, Sylvia Tilly." Tilly offers Chapel a hand. 

"Christine Chapel." Her hand is dry and warm, her grip firm but not aggressive, "Ensign Tilly, I can  _guarantee_ that if Jim's apology has been accepted those two are at least half-naked by now." 

"No way!" Tilly laughs. 

"Well, okay maybe not half." Chapel admits, "But I know Jim, and I suspect you do too, and I also know Leo, and I know lovesick idiots when I see them." 

"Leo, huh?" Tilly is already reaching into her pocket for her PADD before she realises she left it in her quarters when she decided tonight was going to be a night for fun, not work. 

"Damn." Chapel mutters, cheeks going a delicate pink. 

The main doors open, and a pair of cadets enter. One of them looks somewhat sheepish and is limping slightly. The other just looks worried. Chapel bustles over to them and starts taking down information on her PADD, and Tilly wanders over to one of the waiting room's chairs and settles into it, wondering if she should leave, or wait for Jim. She still wants confirmation on who this 'Leo' is. 

Absently, she watches Chapel as the nurse continues talking with the two cadets, taking down notes quickly. Tilly can't hear the conversation, but Chapel's expression is reassuring, and her voice is pitched low, gentle and calm from the tone and cadence of her speech. 

Chapel waves the two cadets through a door into a consultation room and keys the comm built into her desk. "Doctor McCoy, I've got a patient for you, room two." 

There's an acknowledging grunt from the speaker, and for a brief second Tilly could have sworn she heard Jim's voice in the background. But no, she's probably just imagining things. 

She's content to wait a little longer, just in case Chapel's predictions turn out to be wrong, but after about a minute the staff door opens, and Jim slips through it, followed by a man in medical whites who gives Jim a quick, fond glance before crossing to Chapel's desk, taking the PADD she had been making notes on from her with a nod, and proceeding after the cadets into the consultation room. 

Jim scans the room for Tilly, and on seeing her, grins broadly at her. There's no sign of the defeated man she'd found earlier in the bar drinking his sadness away. Chapel rolls her eyes at Jim, but also shoots him a small smile.

"So." Tilly says when Jim drops into the seat next to her, "That's him, huh?" 

"Yep." Jim is still grinning. 

"I'm guessing you sorted things out?" She asks. 

Jim nods, "Let's just say he accepted my apology." He says with a wink. 

"I can  tell." Tilly winks back at him, "You have a hickey." She gives a meaningful glance at his neck, and he has the grace to at least look a little chagrined. 

"Yeah." He says, "That's...that's a thing." 

" A good thing?" She asks. 

"Yes, it's a good thing." 

"Good." Tilly gets up from her seat, suddenly aware that it's getting late and she has plans to meet Michael tomorrow morning for breakfast, and she should really get some sleep before then since she's helped avert Jim's relationship crisis. She wraps her arms around Jim in another tight hug, squeezing for as long as he'll let her, "I'm glad." She mumbles against his hair, pretending she isn't tearing up with relief and joy, just a little. He squeezes her back, arms winding around her waist, his head pressed against her shoulder. 

"Thank-you." He whispers into her shirt. 

"Anytime." She replies. 

"Hopefully I won't need to take you up on that." He releases her, and she smoothes down the fabric of her shirt. 

"You're pretty serious about him, huh?" Tilly says, and a brief expression, soft and almost unreadable, crosses Jim's face. 

"Yeah." He says softly. Then, "I don't wanna lose him again." 

"You won't." Chapel calls from behind the desk, "As long as you don't pull a dumbass move like this again." 

"Not planning on it!" Jim calls back, "Seriously, thank-you." He tells Tilly, his voice serious. 

She smiles at him, "Don't waste it." She tells him. 

"I won't." 

A wave of tiredness sweeps over her. It's late, and solving other people's relationship problems is tiring. She tells Jim as much, and he grins, "Want me to walk you out?" He offers, "Bones' shift doesn't finish for another hour, I was gonna wait for him but I've got time if you want me to." 

"'Bones', huh?" 

"Shut up." He says, but there's no malice in it. 

"I'm fine," She tells him. 

With one last hug from Jim, and a wave over her shoulder at Chapel, Tilly leaves the warmth and light of the medical centre for the cool of the night. She shivers and pulls her jacket a little tighter around herself, and turns and heads for home. 

 

**Epilogue - Three Years Later**

"This arrived for you today." Michael says when Tilly wanders into their quarters at the end of Beta shift. She hands Tilly a small courier case, the type usually used for sending small valuables or other personal items. 

"Huh," She says, sitting on the edge of her bed, one foot tucked up under her, and settling the case on her lap. "Wonder who it's from." She taps the small illuminated panel, verifying her identity and opening the holographic display with the sender information on it. "Oh hey, it's from Jim!" She says, delighted. 

"Isn't he on the _Enterprise_ now?" Michael asks, already half-absorbed in her book. 

"Yeah." Tilly says, opening the case, and removing the item inside. "Holy shit." She says loudly. "Oh my god!"

"What is it?" Michael asks, putting her book aside. 

"Look!" Tilly waves the wedding invitation at Michael until her friend crosses the room and takes it from her to read, a smile slowly spreading across her face as she does so. 

Tilly turns back to the case, because there's something else in it. When she sees what the other item in the box is, she bursts out laughing. Nestled in the bottom of the case, tucked safely along its edge where it won't get damaged, is a bright purple plastic curly straw. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look, I wrote this in pretty much under a day at uni and I don't care if it conflicts with canon I had fun writing it. Also yes, I am a sucker for a cute ending shut up.

**Author's Note:**

> If anyone wants to say something negative, kindly find the nearest airlock and eject yourself into space. 
> 
> Come fine me on [Tumblr](https://demerite.tumblr.com/).


End file.
